Weight distribution and anti sway equipment?

[gator.bigfoot]

Originally Posted by pmclemore

I still remember the Data General ad when they dipped their toes into the PC market: "Don't settle for a half-fast computer."

Pat

Data General was my first employer so I have many fond memories of their products. I worked on all of the Nova products as well as the Eclipse line. I guess I'm dating myself. I'm not used to hearing that anyone remembers the DG or Dec products which I also worked with (both PDP-11 and Vax-32 ). If you mention the names today you just get a blank stare. You might as well be talking about rotary dial phones.

[rmkrum]

Heh, I used both Data General and PDP-series computers for many years. I also had a full set of Bell System Plant Practices--all about rotary dial phones. Heck, I still have the slide rule I carried in college in the 60's. Nothing unusual here... it was what we had at the time, and believe me we took full advantage of the technology.

Now, its just gotten smaller, faster, and cheaper. Progress is fun, but we do need to remember some of the history that got us here today. And don't forget the crew-cut, pocket protector carrying geeks like me that got us to the future, and are still pushing the 'bleeding edge' of technology.

[TravlinMan]

The only reason I use a wd hitch is cause my manual clearly states I should. I just wanna be able to say I followed the manufacturer recommendations if I ever need warranty work or an insurance claim that is related to components involved with towin. I just kinda assume that if it says I should be doin it in the owners manual, I should probly be doin it....

2017 RAM 2500 manual:

"WARNING: If the gross trailer weight is 5,000 lbs (2,267 kg) or more, it is recommended to use a weight-distributing hitch to ensure stable handling of your vehicle. If you use a standard weight-carrying hitch, you could lose control of your vehicle and cause a collision."

The manual does not mention a need for additional sway control.

[ITSNO60]

Getting back to the OP I was wondering if a Hensley/Pro Pride type hitch would work with an Airsafe? Would they even fit together? I have only read 1/2 way through this thread but I jumped ahead at page 7 as I saw no mention of this and the thread appears to be going sideways right around that page (no pun intended).

[rmkrum]

Interesting thought. Does Airsafe work with other WD/anti-sway setups?

Don't see how you could pass the WD torque past the Airsafe part...

[ITSNO60]

As I slowly wade through this thread I am becoming more confused on which setup to ultimately choose when I have my own AS. We rented a TT for an experiment with a Blue Ox, towing with an F-350. It was a rough ride at times with the TT jerking the truck up and down over rough patches and RR tracks, so the Airsafe sounds nice. It was also a bit tense when big rigs would pass and push the trailer enough to make the F-350 wander, and being buffeted by a sudden cross wind was no fun either. Although I never exceeded 65 MPH I still felt like I was "on the edge" the whole time which led to being exhausted after 5-6 hours. I can't help but wonder how much different the Hensley design would be, and if it would beat up the trailer a lot.

I can drive my F-350 8 or 9 hours not towing without tiring but after just 5 or 6 hours towing I feel like somebody beat me up.

[Rich Jenkins]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

As I slowly wade through this thread I am becoming more confused on which setup to ultimately choose when I have my own AS. We rented a TT for an experiment with a Blue Ox, towing with an F-350. It was a rough ride at times with the TT jerking the truck up and down over rough patches and RR tracks, so the Airsafe sounds nice. It was also a bit tense when big rigs would pass and push the trailer enough to make the F-350 wander, and being buffeted by a sudden cross wind was no fun either. Although I never exceeded 65 MPH I still felt like I was "on the edge" the whole time which led to being exhausted after 5-6 hours. I can't help but wonder how much different the Hensley design would be, and if it would beat up the trailer a lot.



I can drive my F-350 8 or 9 hours not towing without tiring but after just 5 or 6 hours towing I feel like somebody beat me up.

Wow. That's amazing that you had issues with a F350. Hopefully a Blue Ox Owner can chime in.

I can say my sample of one using a ProPride+Ram 2500 I can't recall ever being blown around by anything since Nov 2015. Towing is an absolute non issue. My expectation is that any good WD/Sway control hitch, properly set up, should be similar.

[ITSNO60]

It wasn't to the point of scary, just an uncomfortable and odd feeling to have an outside force steer your truck for a couple seconds. Keep in mind I am a total newbie towing a TT. Only had truck campers before and only towed boats. The Blue Ox was set up by the RV rental place and although from reading here I am sure they got it reasonably close, but not fine tuned. The trailer was basically empty although they did fill our fresh water tank with 40 gallons for some reason, and I am not sure where that tank was located, hopefully midship. My F-350 is only a 2002 but it is in excellent condition. Front end is new including ball joints and Red Head steering gear, steers like when it was new. Of course it does have the straight axle with leaf springs as they were made during that era.

Another thing I should mention is that I tend to be overly cautious in addition to researching everything to death.

Do you have any issues with the Ram 2500 "roughing up" the trailer?

[TravlinMan]

My biggest problem is sometimes I forget it's back there. Seriously that's one scary thing when you're like 'oh heck I've got a trailer!'

Also when I'm unhooked from the trailer and I'm in town and I start drivin and I take a glance at the rearview mirror and.... the trailer's missin! I'm like 'oh criminy where the heck is the trailer?!' that's the worst one, takes me a good couple seconds to remember it's at the campsite. Gives me a dang heart attack.

Wait what were we talking about?

[Rich Jenkins]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

Do you have any issues with the Ram 2500 "roughing up" the trailer?

If that was to me, then no, we don't have any issues wrt the trailer...but maybe I don't understand.

[TravlinMan]

I was bein serious in my post, even though I was also being funny. But in reality my Ram 2500 pulls the 25fb like it ain't even back there. No movement from cross wind, no movement from big rigs whizzin by and certainly not jerking the truck on bumps or rough road. Smooth as silk on a shoeshine!

[ITSNO60]

Originally Posted by TravlinMan

I was bein serious in my post, even though I was also being funny. But in reality my Ram 2500 pulls the 25fb like it ain't even back there. No movement from cross wind, no movement from big rigs whizzin by and certainly not jerking the truck on bumps or rough road. Smooth as silk on a shoeshine!

In case I missed it which hitch setup do you use? Maybe part of my ride is because of the stiff springs on the F-350. I wouldn't call it awful but you definitely know it's back there when on bumpy pavement.

[TravlinMan]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

In case I missed it which hitch setup do you use? Maybe part of my ride is because of the stiff springs on the F-350. I wouldn't call it awful but you definitely know it's back there when on bumpy pavement.

Makes sense. A 350 seems like it would need some weight on it's back to make it more comfortable. I use an e2 hitch with the lowest amount of weight distribution. My truck also rides a better with more weight on it's back. I take off the e2 bfore ridin dirt or gravel roads, the weight distribution makes the trailer a little bouncy on those roads. Without the wd hitch it tows great off road and with it it tows great on the highway.

I'm guessin maybe the wd hitch took too much weight off your back which is why ya started bouncin around.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by Llando88

Wow. That's amazing that you had issues with a F350. Hopefully a Blue Ox Owner can chime in.

I can say my sample of one using a ProPride+Ram 2500 I can't recall ever being blown around by anything since Nov 2015. Towing is an absolute non issue. My expectation is that any good WD/Sway control hitch, properly set up, should be similar.

I would be looking at how tightly the WD was set. With the F-350 you don't need any weight distribution. You set it too aggressively it will lighten up the rear end and that gives you a real squirrely ride. I have went through that myself. With the F-350 the WD needs minimal tension to help with sway prevention.

[ITSNO60]

Originally Posted by franklyfrank

I would be looking at how tightly the WD was set. With the F-350 you don't need any weight distribution. You set it too aggressively it will lighten up the rear end and that gives you a real squirrely ride. I have went through that myself. With the F-350 the WD needs minimal tension to help with sway prevention.

You may have hit the nail on the head Frank! After dropping the trailer on the ball they jacked up the truck and trailer till the ball was back to original height again then they hooked up the chains on the Blue Ox to the eighth link. My truck did squat just a little when they lowered things but the tail end was still higher than the front like it normally sits. I hadn't done much research on the hitch setup before the trip and did not know how common it is for the dealers to lack proper hitch setup knowledge. I guess it's like a lot of things, if you want it done right do it yourself. Does it sound like they got it too tight for the F-350?

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by franklyfrank

I would be looking at how tightly the WD was set. With the F-350 you don't need any weight distribution. You set it too aggressively it will lighten up the rear end and that gives you a real squirrely ride. I have went through that myself. With the F-350 the WD needs minimal tension to help with sway prevention.

Unless you are also carrying a heavy load in the truck's bed, along with the trailer on the hitch. You may be lightening the steering axle too much for good control under adverse conditions. The w.d. can restore that weight on the steering axle. If you don't carry a heavy load in the truck's bed one has to wonder why you are using an F-350 to tow an Airstream.

[ITSNO60]

Originally Posted by dkottum

If you don't carry a heavy load in the truck's bed one has to wonder why you are using an F-350 to tow an Airstream.

Because I already have it, it's paid for and I love it.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Unless you are also carrying a heavy load in the truck's bed, along with the trailer on the hitch. You may be lightening the steering axle too much for good control under adverse conditions. The w.d. can restore that weight on the steering axle. If you don't carry a heavy load in the truck's bed one has to wonder why you are using an F-350 to tow an Airstream.

With the stiff suspension and frame of a F-250 and especially the F-350 it is very difficult to transfer any weight to the front axle nor would you need to. The tighter you set the WD the lighter the rear end gets. Any weight transfer at all goes towards the trailer. And that is why one ends up with an unstable ride.
I had the opportunity to experiment with this recently. The fellow who purchased our 30' International came to pick it up with a brand new F-350 Diesel. He also had a new BLue OX hitch I had to install and set up for him since he had never towed before and new nothing about hitches.
Just prior to that I went through re tuning my hitch setting to the new F-250 Diesel from the F-150 that I was pulling it with for four years. The settings were different for all three trucks. After all that I had to reset my hitch again for our new 2017 Classic. I couldn't use the same shank I had with the International. Had I not experienced all this first hand I would have never realized how much difference there is in set ups between differing Trailer and TV combinations. So I am all hitched out at this point.

[ITSNO60]

That is very interesting Frank, but to confuse matters I found this towing information for my 2002 F-350. Note the weight capacities for WD and non WD, a huge difference. (the lower part of the chart is for receiver hitches). I've included a link to the document for reference.

http://hillerford.com/v2/resource_li...sdtowframe.htm

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by dkottum

If you don't carry a heavy load in the truck's bed one has to wonder why you are using an F-350 to tow an Airstream.

Because an F550 won't fit in my garage ☺